Train Your Child to be Tidy – Painlessly

Most children are not naturally tidy. They love to get all those blocks or other toys out to play with, but they don’t like the job of picking them up off the floor and putting them away. Unless they are taught to put their clothes away, they will no doubt stay on the floor or wherever they landed when taken off.

Training your child to be tidy need not be a hassle, but be warned; if you are not tidy yourself, don’t expect your child to be. Children copy what their parents do and if they live in an untidy environment will see no reason to be any different. That said, most parents realise that life is easier and more pleasant when the home is relatively tidy. At least they don’t waste time or get frustrated looking for important things that just disappear into the general mess.
So how do you teach your child to be tidy without stress and hassle? Here are a few pointers that should help.

First and foremost, be tidy yourself. When you child sees you picking up your own stuff and putting it away, they will copy you.

Start encouraging children to put things away right from when they can walk. Start by doing it with them. Children love to do anything with their parents when they are little.

Have a place to put things and show your child where it is. For instance, you can have shelves or a cupboard in the hall and when you walk in the door from an outing, place shoes and sunhat on the shelf. As you do so, tell the child what you are doing. They will eagerly copy you.

Give your child a special place for their books and toys. Let them help put stickers on the shelf or box to show what goes in there.

A dirty-clothes hamper in the bedroom or bathroom can make it easier for children to keep their clothes tidier.

Make a game of tidying up when children are little. They love playing games with you.

Older children love contests. Simply saying, How many toys you can pick up in five minutes? Or, who can pick up the most toys? Or let’s see how many toys we can pick up before a favourite TV programme comes on, can elicit an amazing response.

When children make an effort to put their things on the shelf, don’t redo it after them, even if it still looks a bit messy. Redoing it gives them the message that what they did is not good enough. They will then give up before the tidy habit has become established.

If you didn’t start to train your child while they were young, don’t give up hope. Most children can see that their life is easier and more pleasant when they don’t have to look through mess to find their stuff. With encouragement, you can establish the tidy habit in most children.